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The Revenge of the Mummyby John PirilloChapter Twenty-Three It was a fateful night for more than just the two brave authors and inventors and warriors. Yes, warriors, for they have untold adventures which you may yet learn about, but not here and at this time. It was a time of awakening for many of the Baker Street Adventurers and would take even more courage than before as they would soon find out. Lord Greystone and Lady Shareen stood on London Bridge, overlooking the Thames, ignoring the occassional late night Tesla car, or cab or horse and buggy...yes, there were still some of those leftovers from the last age of man...but mostly they ignored the world. For it was a night of being together. They had been separated by their own individual burdens of responsibility. Not that they eschewed them, or disliked them, but burdens they were. Lady Shareen was dedicated to raising the rights of women to the equality of men. For even though modern Victorian Society admonished men for not being more fair to women, yet the practice prevailed. Women were still in the minority of leadership and finance, of government and business. Not that having the ruling monarch being a woman hurt any, but it didn't help as much as many might assume. Therefore, Lady Shareen, born into more wealth than most, chose to not follow her father's footsteps in further accumulating wealth, but rather in spreading it out to the poor and needy, and helping women everywhere learn how to stand up to the patriarchal societies that existed planetary wide. "You seem more tired than usual." Lord Greystone whispered to the lovely lady next to him. She turned her sparkling eyes on him and melted his next words in his mouth, before he could speak. Even after all these months, he still found her beauty breathtaking. Not just her physical beauty, which was in abundance, but her mental and emotional wealth as well. He had never met a stronger, nor more gentle and sweet natured woman in his life. And with his own wealth and position he had never found it a problem in meeting the proudest and most available of them. Women still sought men for power and position, and perhaps that would never change, as human nature seemed to be constantly challenged by its own weaknesses, not matter which world, or time period. "And you are not, Jungle Lord?" He laughed. She grinned back at him. He pressed his lips gently to her forehead, then looked back at the soothing waters of the Thames. Even though it was freezing cold and he could see his and her breath curling like mist in the air, the waters below continued to flow smoothly, even with the hints of ice and frost on the shorelines. They lapsed into silence again, contented to just watch the incoming vessels, and the outgoing ones. London was a top port city and the flow of commerce never stopped by sea, land or air. Speaking of which. They both looked up as one of the great Zeppelins with its British flag flying proudly from its tail hummed along several hundred feet above the city, heading for the aero port where the latest flying devices landed and then arose again, continuing their patterns of commerce and passenger flights. "We've made so much progress in the last ten years." "Yes, we have." He said, not really believing it was all that wonderful. Give him a quiet forest tree in the Fairie any day, where he could lay his head down on a thick branch and dangle his naked legs over the forest floor below. The cries of Griffins in the sky, Unicorns mating below, the endless flocks of colorful birds and dragons that wind their way constantly through the skies of that magical place. She touched his lower lip and he looked across at her. She was not a small woman. Not in any way. Of mind or body. She was nearly his equal in height, lacking but six inches of his almost seven feet in height. "Fairie." He nodded. "I can't help it. Every time I come here and spend any large portion of time, something goes awry back home." "It's the nature of the place, my dear." She chided him. He smiled. "And this." She laughed and he pulled her closer, feeling her warmth seep through the thick overcoat on his body. Had it not been so cold, he would rather have gone in his usual clothing, which was a brief across his groin. Not many Londoners understood his aversion to clothing and especially his pleasure in going almost naked in public, but there wasn't a man out there would wouldn't love to have half the body he had, nor the beautiful woman he courted and loved. Lady Shareen shivered and he looked at her. "Perhaps we should return." "No. Theres's something I need to tell you, my dear sweet Lord of the Jungle." He smiled. It always brought a smile to his lips, for he knew in his heart that the Jungle was its own Lord, and he but a man striving to be a good guardian of its resources. Seeing his willingness to be still and listen, she went on. "I have been talking to Mrs. Hudson." "Ah. I heard about that. Is he all right?" "Yes. The poor dear was going crazy with worry. I gave her some of that tea you brought back from Fairie and it seemed to calm her down. I also gave her something else." He was smiling until that. His eyes hardened. "You didn't." "John means more to her than life itself. If something happened to him...just as I with you." His hard stare softened. He nodded. "Then it is done and out of our hands." "Yes. But there's more." "What could that possibly be?" And she told him. As she did so, his eyes hardened again and even through the thickness of his overcoat if a stranger were to pass by they would see his muscles expanding and knotting in anger, causing his clothing which clung barely to his body, to stretch to the point of almost breaking.